Day 38 of surviving on the deserted island. Weather: Clear.

A day without Poliwhirl and Pelipper began.

Reiji had no energy for morning training. After waking, he sat at the entrance of the treehouse, staring toward the forest, hoping that if Poliwhirl returned, he’d be the first to see it.

But he knew full well—Poliwhirl wasn’t coming back that early.

Soon, the Pokémon began waking up: Butterfree, Krabby, Spinarak, Slowpoke—each one stepping outside to breathe the crisp morning air.

Reiji, lost in his thoughts, didn’t pay attention to what the others were doing. He didn’t make them train or supervise their routines.

Only Krabby, ever self-disciplined, began lifting its claws to train on its own—even without Reiji’s instruction.

Butterfree, Spinarak, and Slowpoke weren’t training. Butterfree was chatting with Slowpoke.

It had discovered that Slowpoke possessed psychic powers too.

Slowpoke had sensed Butterfree’s psychic abilities and actively responded with its own, allowing Butterfree to pick up on them.

Feeling like it had found a kindred spirit, Butterfree chattered nonstop with Slowpoke, the two of them discussing how to use psychic powers more effectively.

Just like that, the morning passed. At noon, the Pokémon reminded Reiji it was time for lunch, and he brought out the leftover crab from yesterday to cook a meal for everyone.

After lunch, he released Farfetch’d, who was still fuming. Reiji didn’t bother addressing the anger, simply handed it off to the other Pokémon.

Krabby was in charge of dueling it, Slowpoke was tasked with talking some sense into it, while Butterfree and Spinarak stuck close to Reiji to prevent sneak attacks—and took turns knocking Farfetch’d out when needed.

Nobody knew why this duck was so obsessed. Even injured, it still insisted on fighting. It had never once given up—and its goal remained the same: defeat Reiji.

Reiji didn’t care about its hatred. He even handed Butterfree a potion spray to treat Farfetch’d’s wounds.

If its injuries weren’t properly healed, and its already limited potential dropped further, that would be a real shame.

And so, amid this chaos, the afternoon passed. Reiji napped against the treehouse and woke up at dusk.

He recalled the exhausted, collapsed Farfetch’d into its Poké Ball and called the others for dinner.

After eating, he sent Butterfree to deliver food and healing spray to Poliwhirl and Pelipper at the island’s center.

After that, they waited for Butterfree to return before heading in for the night.

A dull, uneventful day came to a quiet end.

Day 39 of surviving on the deserted island. Weather: Cloudy.

Reiji woke up to daylight. Once he was up, he couldn’t fall back asleep. He returned to the entrance of the treehouse, sitting quietly and staring toward the forest—hoping he’d be the first to spot Poliwhirl if it returned.

The Pokémon woke up and resumed their training or play without disturbing him.

They knew exactly what he was waiting for. Truth be told, they were waiting for Poliwhirl too.

At the same time, deep in the forest, near the island’s central lake, Poliwhirl was hard at work in training—facing off against a Rhydon.

This wasn’t the boss Rhydon, but a regular member of the Rhydon clan.

Even so, this Rhydon was strong—right at the threshold of Elite-level—and far beyond Poliwhirl’s ability to defeat. The boss Rhydon had assigned it specifically to help train Poliwhirl.

Meanwhile, the boss Rhydon wasn’t idle either—it was personally training its son, Rhyhorn.

From a nest built high in the tree branches, Pelipper watched everything intently, guarding the food Butterfree had delivered and waiting for Poliwhirl’s training to finish.

“Sha-do, sha-do, come at me!” the Rhydon barked. It had been ordered to only use punches or kicks to fight Poliwhirl.

Its available moves included: Hammer Arm, Stomp, Mega Punch, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, and Mega Kick. Just a handful, but more than enough.

To counter Rhydon, Poliwhirl’s white-gloved fists shimmered in the morning sun, covered with glistening frost—clear evidence it had already learned Ice Punch.

With the burst from Waterfall, Ice Punch gleamed under the morning sun—doubly effective against Rhydon.

But Poliwhirl’s Ice Punch was dodged easily. It got tripped by Rhydon’s tail and fell flat on the ground.

“Sha-do! Don’t throw punches so directly. Wait for your opponent to move before you act. Especially when you’re slower and weaker. Your footwork is shaky. You can’t properly control your Waterfall bursts—you’ve got too many openings!”

Rhydon analyzed Poliwhirl’s weaknesses based on its own battle experience and offered suggestions.

“Sha-do. In situations like this, you need to conserve your energy. Let your opponent move first, and then—based on their intention—choose your next step: attack or evade. That’s how you strike fast and smart.”

“You need to master Waterfall. It’s a fantastic burst move. It lets you harness your full body’s strength. Next, I’ll teach you how to control your body’s explosive power…”

“Sha-do—boom, boom—!” As Rhydon finished speaking, it slammed its massive feet into the earth. The ground cracked beneath it. A dusty yellow aura surged from its body—this was the start of its technique.

It raised its thick iron arm, clenched its fist, and lit up with blinding white energy—then smashed a boulder in front of it with a crushing Mega Punch.

BOOM—

The boulder shattered instantly, debris flying everywhere—obliterated by that single punch.

“Yobo… amazing…” Poliwhirl’s eyes sparkled. It was in awe of that devastating iron fist that could shatter stone in one blow.

How long would it take to become that strong? It couldn’t help but envy Rhydon’s raw power.

“Sha-do. You see that, little tadpole? That was Rock Climb to gather full-body strength, followed by a stomp to shake the opponent, then channeling all that force into one punch—Mega Punch—shattering the boulder.”

“The secret lies in your legs. The earth is the source of all strength. Never leave the ground. Without stable footing, you can’t unleash the full power of Mega Punch.”

“Yobo! Thank you for the lesson—I understand now!” Poliwhirl ran to the shattered stone, hoisted up a chunk larger than itself, and began sprinting with it overhead, triggering Waterfall as it went.

It could only run in a straight line for now—but that was enough to get familiar with the rhythm and burst timing of Waterfall, the foundation for learning Mega Punch.

Even if it longed to master the move, without a strong base, just like Rhydon said, it would never be able to release its full potential.

Seeing Poliwhirl begin strength training to control Waterfall, Rhydon nodded to itself.

This little tadpole really was different from its dumb nephew. It was disciplined, focused.

Ever since arriving here, it had done only three things—train, eat, and sleep. And then train again…

Day 40 of surviving on the deserted island. Weather: Light rain.

Reiji’s life had become monotonous. He sat in front of the treehouse, waiting endlessly for Poliwhirl to return.

A new day began, and he was still at the same spot, staring blankly at the woods, hoping to see Poliwhirl’s silhouette.

This was the fourth day since Poliwhirl and Pelipper had left. No one knew when its training would end.

The early-rising Pokémon had grown used to Reiji’s quiet waiting and didn’t disturb him. They simply went about their routines.

Krabby was sparring with Farfetch’d. Butterfree and Slowpoke watched nearby. Spinarak perched on the roof, keeping a silent watch over Reiji.

The Pokémon would only rouse Reiji at meal times—breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

And each time, after eating, Reiji would return to his seat and continue waiting.

Meanwhile, after a full day of weight training, Poliwhirl still couldn’t fully control the explosive power of Waterfall—but it had compressed its activation range to five meters.

Thanks to the Waterfall-run drills Reiji had enforced earlier, it was now just one step away from full control.

Today, it would focus on learning to harness that explosive force: how to control it, call on it, and punch with it.

Having learned the theory of Mega Punch, Poliwhirl began punching a tree trunk over and over.

Bam, bam, bam—

White fist after white fist slammed into the trunk.

From morning to noon. From noon to dusk…

As the sunset’s last rays bathed its body, Poliwhirl finally stopped and stared at the horizon.

It remembered sitting under a tree with Reiji, watching the sunset. Those days had been beautiful—carefree and full of joy.

“Pelii! Snap out of it, tadpole!” Pelipper swooped down from another branch and placed food in front of the dazed Poliwhirl.

“Yobo.” Poliwhirl, realizing who it was, smiled and sat against the tree to eat the meal Reiji had sent.

As it chewed, looking at the fading sun, it thought of Reiji. Wondered what he was doing now.

When dinner was finished and the sun was gone, Poliwhirl stood up again—and resumed punching the tree trunk.

Under the moonlight, a lonely, sweat-soaked figure kept striking the same spot beneath the tree, unmoved.

Day 41 of surviving on the deserted island. Weather: Clear.

The next morning, the rising sun lit the land. Poliwhirl had collapsed under the tree during the night.

A droplet of dew fell from a leaf and landed on its nose, waking it.

Groggy, Poliwhirl blinked and looked around. Realizing it was still in the island’s center, it panicked—until it saw Rhydon asleep near the lake and remembered what it was doing here.

Pelipper arrived right on time, delivering breakfast.

Poliwhirl ate quickly, then resumed its dull punching routine. Yesterday, despite a full day of training, it hadn’t yet executed a true Mega Punch. More practice was needed.

Looking at the groove it had carved in the trunk the day before, Poliwhirl inhaled deeply and threw another punch with its white-gloved fist.

It didn’t notice the faint white glow beginning to flicker on its knuckles.

“Yobo, yobo, yobo…” Poliwhirl chanted as it struck. It thought of Reiji’s encouragement—it wouldn’t give up. It couldn’t give up. It had to grow stronger.

“Yo… BO!”

Suddenly, Poliwhirl shouted. Its white fist ignited with bright energy, and it drove it straight into the tree trunk.

CRACK—CRACK—

The groove splintered. Cracks spread wider and deeper, and the top half of the tree could no longer support itself—it toppled over into the forest.

BOOM—

The sound snapped Poliwhirl out of its trance. It stared at the fallen tree—and then at its glowing fist.

Did I… knock that tree down? Did I really master Mega Punch?

Hardly able to believe it, Poliwhirl moved to another large tree. Deep breath. Calm mind. Total focus.

Its fist answered the call—lighting up once more.

“Yobo!”

Another explosive strike.

CRACK-CRACK—

The tree shattered again—falling into the forest.

“Yobo, yobo! I did it! I did it!” Poliwhirl jumped in excitement, then ran to the lakeside where Rhyhorn was resting, shouting that it had finally mastered Mega Punch.

“Whuuu… congrats,” Rhyhorn replied, happy but a bit deflated.

No mystery there—it had been beaten up so badly in the last few days, it had even lost interest in food.

“Sha-do. Congratulations. Time for the next stage of training.” The boss Rhydon had also seen the tree fall. At first, it thought the tree had simply collapsed.

But the second time, it clearly saw Poliwhirl use a true Mega Punch, timed with Waterfall. Enough power to crush stone.

“Yobo!” Poliwhirl, full of energy, followed Rhydon.

They approached a smaller boulder near a massive one.

Rhydon stood beside the big one and gave a reminder: “Sha-do. This time, watch closely. I’ll show you again how to channel full-body power.”

Boom—Boom—Boom—

Rhydon stomped again, cracks spreading underfoot. That brown aura surged back, and its iron fist blazed white-hot.

With a deep breath, it launched a charged punch downward.

BOOM BOOM BOOM—

The boulder exploded into fragments, debris flying everywhere. Some chunks flew at Poliwhirl—it blocked them with its fists.

“Yobo.” Poliwhirl watched, silently pumping itself up. I can do this. I WILL do this.

It stepped toward the smaller rock—though it was still three or four times bigger than Poliwhirl itself.

It didn’t stand directly in front of it. No—it kept five meters back. That was the compressed limit of Waterfall’s burst range.

Standing firm, it stared at the rock, bent its knees, and let water well up underfoot. Its legs tensed—then blasted off the ground with massive force, leaving a crater behind.

The burst launched it like a rocket, near the speed of sound.

Its glowing fist collided with the rock.

BOOM—

The boulder shattered into fine pieces, fragments flying everywhere.

Just like Rhydon had done, Poliwhirl had smashed it.

Looking at its white-gloved fist, Poliwhirl nearly cried out—it had done it.

It’d grown stronger.

Reiji… I wish you could see me now.

But he wasn’t here. So Poliwhirl swallowed its excitement. It would tell him everything once it returned.

“Sha-do. Little tadpole, you’ve worked hard. Next, you’ll learn Mega Kick. That move, too, can be combined with Waterfall to unleash explosive power.”

This would be the last technique. Rhydon had already asked—Poliwhirl couldn’t learn Fire Punch or Thunder Punch.

So this was all it could teach now…

(End of Chapter)

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